BluFlux RF Technologies in Louisville has a recently issued patent that paves the way for a cellphone case that boosts a cellphone’s signal by two bars.

Apparently, a person’s body and hands often interfere with the signal and degrade the connection by up to 90 percent, according to Ben Wilmhoff, BluFlux’s founder and president.

So Wilmhoff and his team created a prototype case using his technology. An exterior antenna flips out from the bottom and away from the face and hands. This helps the phone communicate with nearby cell towers and get better signal. Here’s a link to BluFlux’s U.S. Patent 8,954,122.

Ben Wilmhoff, Founder and President of BluFlux, testing the phone case. The bottom flips out to improve the signal. An app will indicate to the user when the case would benefit from being opened.

BluFlux tested this out inside a special testing chamber the company built to test radio frequencies. Inside, Wilmhoff saw a 10 dB improvement — or a 10-times improvement he said. That’s him in the chamber in the photo above. On the right, a closeup of the phone. And below, an illustration of how the phone works. All photos courtesy of BluFlux.

The other benefit is the case doesn’t contribute to cellular radiation, which concerns many people. In fact, Wilmhoff said, since signal is directed away from the body, the person absorbs much less than what the U.S. safety standards allow.

BluFlux, which is partly owned by OtterBox owners Blue Ocean Enterprises, now needs to figure out if it will manufacture its own cases or license the technology. If everything moves smoothly, the first cases could hit the market in early 2016, Wilmhoff estimated.

Tamara Chuang covers personal technology and local tech news for The Denver Post. She previously spent 10 years doing the same thing for The Orange County Register before taking a hiatus to move here and become a SAHM to a precocious toddler.